NBA. Yao Ming hit a 3-pointer that stunned the crowd and his teammates as the Rockets beat the Charlot Bobcats. And LeBron James put in 51 points, as the Cavaliers clinched their first Central Division title since 1876 with a victory over the Kings.
Gerald Wallace scored 17 points and Raja Bell added 16 for the cold-shooting bobcats, but they ended the first half with a 48-46 lead over Houston. Yao Ming had 23 points, while Luis Scola added 15 and Ron Artest scored 10 for the Rockets, who took control after the start of the third quarter. Yao led Houston to reverse that lead at 70-65. But the Bobcats were not ready to give up, as they got into an 8-2 run in the final quarter to turn the table by one point. Soon, the Rockets appeared to have the game in hand, when Yao drilled a straight 3-pointer - the second of his career - with 2 minutes and 12 seconds left to put Houston ahead 83-77. In spite of his efforts, Bell missed a long-range jumper at the other end, and Aaron Brooks hit two free throws with 7.2 seconds left before Artest came in from behind and swiped the ball away as Radmanovic released the shot.
BLAZERS BEAT NETS WITH LATE SURGE
Brandon Roy's solution to a slow start was to simply wait it out. He figured his shots had to start falling eventually - and they did. The Nets went up 26-20 in the opening quarter after Devin Haris's 3-pointer and extended the lead to 42-30 on Vince Carter's jumper. But the Blazers came back, outscoring New Jersey 15-7, to narrow it to 49-45. Roy struggled with just one point in the first quarter and just seven in the half, but after New Jersey jumped out to a 60-49 lead in the second half, the two time All-Star hit a jumper for his first field goal of the game. The Blazers again narrowed it, but the Nets stayed in front until Portland's late run. Roy wound up with 31 points in the Blazers' 109-100 win over New Jersey.
JAMES HOLDS UP CAVS TO BEAT KINGS
Kevin Martin scored 34 points for the Kings, who at one stage took a 14-point lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers. But LeBron James's hefty 51 points, including six in overtime, were enough to overtake them. Although James failed to extend his triple-double streak to four games, he was clearly the difference, scoring 16 points in the fourth quarter to rally the Cavaliers from a 14-point deficit. James then tied the game with two free throws after being fouled by Martin, before pushing his team to win it by 3 points.
CELTICS BOUNCE BACK WITH WIN OVER MEMPHIS
The Celtics had lost two games in a row previous to this one, and Kevin Garnett was out for his tenth game in a row since injuring his knee playing against Utah in February. Baron Davis had been starting as power forward until he was hurt against Orlando on Sunday. But even against the Celtics second-and-third stringers, the struggling Grizzlies put up little fight. Powe had his 10th double-double, and second straight since replacing Davis. In addition to Powe's career-high 30 points, Ray allen scored 22 points in their 102-92 win against Memphis.
(CCTV March 16, 2009)
